A beautifully written tale, offering insight into historical Korea, which was really interesting to me and my class. We loved the beautiful prose. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

This was a subtle and beautiful book. I'm glad it exists. I found Tree-ear's world restful and contemplative, and it made me consider the world in a different way.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me access to these books, thank you to the publisher and the author for giving me access to this eARC.

Apologies for the late review life has been crazy.

This is a beautiful cultural insight, I loved this it was beautifully written and such an easy short story to read through. This book is filled with many questions and great quotes. It's a beautiful story about Tree-ear who lives in the woods and learns from crane-man in the woods foraging in the forest. This story has so many layers and the more and more I think about this story the more my love for the story grows, i read so many heavy books this was such a great reprieve.

A Single Shard
By Linda Sue Park
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Tree-ear has grown up under a bridge with Crane man for most of his life. While scowering the dumps of  Ch'ulp'o he falls in love with watching Min the Potter work his wheel and form beautiful pots and vases. Tree-ear dreams one day to to make his own pot. How better to do this than become the Potters helper. Through out all his back breaking work all Tree-ear wants is nothing more than to please his master Min, even if that mean taveling the country to show off Min's work.
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This book filled me with joy and broke my heart all at the same time. It was so beautiful. This story by Linda Sue Park has just had its 20th birthday and I am so glad that I found out about it through Netgalley and got to read a copy. It is a beautifully sweet story of love, found family and ambition. It is a short story of less than two hundred pages but so much is crammed into those pages. Please do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of this ASAP!

An original, beautiful and heartwarming story. The perfect mix of history, culture and pottery. Would love to read more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read a digital arc.
Beautiful. This was one of my first ventures into children's literature and I must say I was hesitant but all my doubts were washed away. Heartwarming and reflective. Highly recommend!

Gorgeous.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read a digital arc in exchange for my feedback.

Having read and enjoyed A Ling Walk to Water by the same author, I was keen to read more of her work. This is a re-publication of a book written 20 years ago.

Set in 12th century Korea, it tells the story of an orphan named Tree-ear who is fascinated by the village potters and wants nothing more than to become a potter himself.

I wasn’t convinced that the subject matter of the story would make very interesting reading, and had it not been for being a fan of the author’s work, I don’t think I would have picked this up, but I am so glad I did. The story included a lot of detail of the ancient art of celadon pottery making, but not so much as to become overwhelming. At the same time, it was a lovely story of family, community and belonging.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely heartening book about determination and the human spirit. I really enjoyed this gentle book. The story really made you become involved and interested in the main characters and wanted TreeEar to succeed in his ambitions.

Linda Sue Park won a Newbery Medal for this surprisingly gripping, moving piece set in twelfth-century Korea. It’s an unusual rite-of-passage story about a young boy Tree-ear, shunned because his orphan status means he’s considered bad luck, he lives outside, scavenging for food. But he’s happy because he has a single friend, the older Crane-man. Their village Ch’ulp'o’s a special place, famed for its craftspeople who produce eye-wateringly beautiful, shimmering pottery. Tree-ear’s fascinated by the work of the local potters, in particular the curmudgeonly Min, whose artistry’s unsurpassed. Tree-ear develops an overwhelming desire to follow in Min’s footsteps but how can he when the technique’s only passed from a father to a son? I thought this was lovely, it’s gently-paced, impeccably observed and meticulously researched. But above all it’s just a great story, it has an evocative, mythic feel but it’s also down to earth and a marvellous celebration of friendship and endurance. This new edition features a foreword by the author, as well as a detailed afterword outlining the book's background and Park's inspiration, a famous vase held in a Korean museum, an outstanding example of an art Korea was once renowned for, its maker’s name lost to history.

Thanks to Netgalley UK and publisher Rock the Boat, imprint of OneWorld Publications.